WOIT
WOIT is an ABC affiliate serving South Bend, Indiana. Broadcasting on channel 16, WOIT was owned and operated by Lady Luck Communications. WOIT was launched in 1972 as an independent by Yellen Broadcasting. In 1995, WOIT became a charter affiliate of The WB. And when The WB and UPN merged to become The CW, WOIT became an affiliate, but then a major affiliate switch was happening in South Bend, and because of the switch, WOIT became an affiliate of ABC. In addition to running ABC's schedule, WOIT also airs syndicated programming, including Live with Kelly, The Golden Ticket, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? History WOIT was launched on April 3, 1972. The station was owned by Yellen Broadcasting. Running as an independent station, WOIT aired off-network syndicated programming. WOIT also ran children's cartoon during the morning, various syndication blocks during the afternoon, and movies throughout the night. WOIT also served as the official station for Notre Dame athletics, including airing games for the Fighting Irish men's basketball team. In 1979, WOIT gained a rival when WVVE was launched, and WVVE quickly gained a foothold in the race. The two networks battled until WVVE became a FOX affiliate in 1986. WOIT remained South Bend's independent leader until 1995 when they became a charter member of The WB. In 1996, Yellen Broadcasting decided to sell the station to Ellington Broadcasting. Ellington Broadcasting started to upgrade the station. In 2000, WOIT launched their news division. The WB 16 Report (as it was called when it debuted) had a slow, but steady growth. In 2006, The WB and UPN closed down and became The CW, and WOIT became an affiliate of The CW for South Bend. In 2010, Ellington Broadcasting sold WOIT to Lady Luck Communications. WOIT remained an affiliate of The CW until they were affected by the affiliation switch. 2015 Broadcasting Realignment Late 2014, rumors were speculating that a major broadcasting realignment was going on and it would be affecting South Bend. While WVVE wasn't going to change, the rest of the stations in South Bend began playing "Musical Chairs." Losing affiliates in some markets, CBS was looking at other places to help out. CBS made a deal with BeloOne (owners of WBDP) to dump NBC for CBS. Before the switch, South Bend gets CBS programming from WTOR in Fort Wayne. NBC, meanwhile had to find an affiliate to replace WBDP, and their attention focused on WESB, who was an ABC affiliate. WESB agreed to switch and become an NBC affiliate, leaving ABC to look for an affiliate and fast became the switch was set to take place on January 1, 2015. A month before the switch took place, ABC finally made the deal with Lady Luck Communications, and on January 1, 2015, the switch took place. WESB became an NBC affiliate, WBDP became a CBS affiliate, and WOIT became an ABC affiliate. The CW affiliation was moved to WRGV channel 62. On June 16, 2016, it was announced that Lady Luck has sold the station to Adelphia Communications, who in turn, gave the station to Young Broadcasting. In March 28, 2017 it was sold to Kenny Broadcasting, forming sister stations with WOH in Grand Rapids, WFAM in Lafayete, IN and , WWIN in Indianoplis. On April 1, 2017, WNQR dropped MyNetworkTV. It was announced that WOIT will pick it up on 16.2. Newscast Launched in 2000, the newscast became South Bend's prime-time news later from 2002-10. One of the agreements WOIT made with ABC was that WOIT would have the same amount of news coverage that WESB had. So on January 1, 2015, when they switch affiliates, WOIT launched a morning newscast, a midday newscast, a 6, and 7 newscast, and moved their prime-time newscast to 11 pm. Newscast Titles * Good Morning, South Bend '''(5-7 AM) * '''ABC 16 News Midday (11 AM-12 PM) * ABC 16 News @ 6 * ABC 16 News @ 7 * ABC 16 News @ 11 Programming Schedule Category:Channel 16 Category:ABC affiliated stations Category:Former independent stations Category:Former WB network affiliates Category:Former CW Affiliates Category:South Bend/Elkart Category:Indiana Category:Television channels and stations established in 1972 Category:ABC Stations Owned by RainbowDash72 Category:RainbowDash72